Sheriff Joe Arpaio[2], the Maricopa County, Arizona, man who calls himself “America’s toughest sheriff,” has until Sept. 10 to comply with a Justice Department request to explain his office’s “operations, policies and procedures” involving the arrest and detention of Hispanics, according to a letter[3] obtained by ABC News.

The Department has been investigating the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office for alleged civil rights violations. Officials set the deadline following a meeting Tuesday with Arpaio’s attorneys in Washington.

“If we do not receive clear and specific agreement for all of the [requests], we will conclude that completion cannot be achieved by voluntary means,” Judy Preston, acting chief of the agency’s Special Litigation Section, wrote to Sheriff’s Office attorney Robert Driscoll.

The Department has outlined 51 requests for documents and information on how the Sheriff’s Office conducts traffic stops and searches, trains new recruits and treats prisoners held in county jails. Officials also asked for access to arrest records from Jan. 2008 and to interview officers and inmates at county facilities.